12 Months
by xCyaniide
Summary: 12 Months, 12 Dates, 12 glimpses at life for Nymphadora Tonks and Severus Snape; two people who are madly in love with one another but can do nothing about it due to alliances. Story ignores events from DH
1. January 9th

It was finally January and everyone was recovering from their overspending and over indulgence over the festive period. The parties had died down to nothing and many people were regularly going to the gym, not that it would last for more than a few days, or had gone on a diet.

Hogwarts students had gone back to school already, the Aurors were back at work and that only really left the lucky non-working or retired few at the Burrow. Well, those people plus Tonks. She was working the night shift that evening and therefore wasn't at work at that hour.

"So, you're saying that you need to go on a diet? Merlin, Tonks, you've not got to lose any weight at all!" exclaimed Remus Lupin, the resident werewolf who had no job because nobody would employ him.

"I've put on four pounds over Christmas, Remus. I was big enough before but now I really do need to lose weight!" Tonks cried in return having almost wished she had never even mentioned it. He always seemed to want to argue with her these days. It was the only real contact she had with him, in fact, now that he was in love with another woman. He seemed unwilling to even argue that day, though. He simply stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Tonks sitting there alone.

"Great," she mumbled, her hair automatically turning to a dull brown colour. She also got up and walked out of the Burrow, deciding to go to the pub for a drink. It was hardly like anyone would be there as they would all be at work. She headed straight to Hogsmeade and into the Three Broomsticks.

"9th of January and Aurors still aren't at work?! Despicable behaviour! What is this world coming to?" one of the heads on the door shouted at her as she entered. She merely glared at it and walked in, though. She knew better than to argue with them. They never really made much sense anyway.

She walked over to the bar and ordered herself a firewhisky before turning around to find a table to sit at. She was planning to sit alone but then she saw a familiar face sitting alone. Severus Snape. And then it clicked in her mind that it was his birthday. She frowned, feeling really bad for him having to be alone on such a day. She walked over to him and asked, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

He glanced up at her and shook his head, "Go ahead," he replied expecting the usual drabble about Remus and her being madly in love with him. If that was the case, he could just switch off as he usually did.

"You shouldn't have to sit alone on your birthday," she said to him, looking at him and waiting for some sort of reaction to that. He didn't react for a couple of seconds, though.

"I'm used to being lonely. It's the only thing I can rely on these days," he replied without looking up from his pint of what appeared to be butterbeer. "I didn't think anyone had remembered, anyway," he added, frowning slightly and looking up at her. "Who told you it was my birthday?"

Tonks felt sorry for him for expecting to be alone. She hated seeing him alone all of the time and she knew he hated being alone as well but she had never told him that before, "You shouldn't have to be alone," she said in an attempt at saying that he did deserve friends whether he thought he did or not. "Are friends not allowed to remember each other's birthday?" she asked as she smiled at him, "Just because nobody else ever remembers doesn't mean I don't either. You told me it was your birthday in my seventh year at Hogwarts when you complained I had taken up all of your lunch time on your birthday cleaning up the mess I had made that time I ended up making the cauldron explode and I was sent to St Mungo's to have the burns treated," she laughed at the memory of the anger on his face that day. "You don't think I'd forget that, do you?"

Severus allowed himself to smile a little at the memory of that, "Ah yes, I remember now. And I didn't let you anywhere near a cauldron without supervision from that day onwards," he nodded, remembering the details more now. "I never did ask if you managed to pass Potions," he commented, "Although I was told one of my students failed that year…" he trailed off, having expected it to be her.

He was rather surprised when she shook her head, "I passed," she laughed. "I did a lot of extra practice in my free time, if I'm honest. I think it was Charlie that failed, actually." She smiled up at him, having expected him to have known who had failed. "Am I really the only person who has remembered?" she asked, changing the subject again back to the previous one. She simply couldn't believe everyone had forgotten.

"You're the only one," he replied, frowning slightly and taking a rather large mouthful of his drink, finishing it off. "I'm supposed to be collecting Potions ingredients here today and thought I'd pop in for a drink before I collected the items. There were Aurors stopping anyone going into the shop so it's hardly like I could have collected them straight away anyway."

Tonks nodded, "Do you want another drink then?" she asked, "I doubt they'd have left yet anyway," she added, smiling at him. "And it's good to have a drink here with a friend on your birthday anyway," she added.

Severus shook his head, "I should probably be going, really. It's just another day in all honesty." She could see from the look in his eyes that he wanted to be cared for, though. And he knew she had seen the look as well.

"Could I at least come with you to the shop then?" she asked, "I might be able to get the items for you if they won't let you in as I'd have permission to be inside." She smiled a little at him, wanting to help him. She was tempted to try and go back to the castle with him as well because she didn't want him to be alone. "I could help you take the ingredients back to the castle too, if you'd like," she added then, deciding to try at least.

Severus thought about it for a few seconds, and then nodded, "If you're sure," he replied, guessing that it could be the only way to get rid of her. And, truthfully, he didn't want to be alone. He had simply become so accustomed to being alone all the time that he hadn't expected to receive the offer at all. "Are you sure you shouldn't be doing anything else, though?" he asked just in case she should have been.

"Its fine, Sev," she said, deciding to see if she could get away with shortening his name. He didn't complain though so she decided it must be okay to do so. "I have work this evening from 11pm but until then, I have nothing to do except keep you company," she laughed and he smiled slightly. She had never seen him smile this much before, even if it was only a few small smiles, and she decided she quite liked seeing his face looking happy for once, even if it was only a little bit.

"Okay, Tonks," he said, standing up and pulling his black coat on over the top of his black robes and wrapping a black scarf around his neck, making Tonks smile. "Yes, I wear a lot of black," he said, smiling a little again. "Suits my mood most of the time though, doesn't it?" he let out a small laugh.

Tonks laughed and nodded, also standing up, "It does, I suppose," she replied. "You're not too bad, you know. There's a nicer side in there somewhere. And you've just proved that," she smiled once more. "I won't tell anyone and ruin your reputation though," she added, grinning at him.

"Me? Nice?" he smiled a little, "Well, I suppose I can be if I wish to be. I just generally wish not to be nice. And if you do tell anyone, there won't be any more niceness at all," he smiled once more, knowing she wouldn't tell anyone. He made sure nobody else was watching, though, because he didn't want his reputation ruined. "Are you sure you don't mind helping me?" he asked, not wanting to make her do something just so he didn't have to be alone.

"Of course I don't mind. Lead the way," she replied, letting him lead her out of the pub and down the road towards the Potions shop. She saw the group of Aurors he had been talking about standing outside and she sighed a little, "Looks like they're still here," she said, smiling slightly as she saw Kingsley Shacklebolt was there. "Do you want me to try and get the stuff for you?" she asked.

"If you don't mind," Severus replied, smiling slightly again, although having to be much more cautious now that they were out in public where anyone, particularly the Aurors, could see them. He took a list out of his coat pocket and handed it to her, "They should have prepared a box with this list of items in it," he explained, "I just need the things in the box and that's all."

Tonks nodded, "Wait here," she said and headed into the group of Aurors. He heard the familiar ding of the door opening and watched the group as he waited for her to return. Sure enough, a few minutes later she did return. "Is this the right box?" she asked him as she opened the top of it to let him see in.

He nodded, "Yes, that's it," he replied, "I'll take it," he added, knowing her track record for breaking things or falling on or over them. He carefully took the box from her and smiled, making it float in the air in front of them so that in actual fact, neither had to carry it. "Thanks," he said, realizing he hadn't said that yet.

"You're more than welcome, Sev," she replied, grinning a little at him again. She was already enjoying spending time with Severus which she had actually found rather surprising. She had wanted to spend time with him alone for years as she had been sure he wasn't as mean as everyone had told her but she had never expected him to be quite this friendly.

They walked side by side in silence for a few minutes and soon enough, Hogwarts was in sight. They didn't even need to speak to one another to know that they would both definitely be going inside. They just knew it. That afternoon, a bond had formed between them. It had to be one of the most unlikely bonds imaginable but all the same, it was there.

"Will you be staying long?" Severus asked suddenly as they entered Hogwarts grounds and headed towards the castle entrance. "I have a Defense Against The Dark Arts lesson to teach in about an hour," he added so as not to appear to just be getting rid of her.

"I could help teach it if you want?" she suggested, smiling at him again, "Perhaps show them a real duel?" She knew he wouldn't hurt her on purpose and she knew he knew she wouldn't hurt him either so it would be solely for educational purposes.

Severus looked at Tonks rather curiously, "I thought you hated the idea of teaching a lesson at Hogwarts?" he asked, smiling all the same. He quite liked the idea of teaching with her. It would give him a reason to enjoy the lesson for once, even if it was just because he could randomly stare at her for a few minutes, then get to fire a few spells at her.

"I hate the students but it would be fun to try it," she replied, smiling. "So what do you say?" she asked, guessing he would say yes. She knew he preferred teaching with others there as well and guessed that he would appreciate the help.

"Okay, if you really want to help you can. But don't complain if I beat you in the duel," he replied, laughing. "Although I'm not sure I will beat you… After all, you're an Auror… You're supposed to be more than capable of beating me and I'm sure you are."

Tonks just laughed and shook her head, "You think a girl could beat you?" she asked, smiling as they headed into the dungeons. Severus was managing to contain his wish to smile because he was around students where his reputation was one of a harsh, unsmiling man.

"You're the only one who I believe would be capable of doing such a thing," he replied, his mouth blank but his eyes showing that he wanted to smile.

They walked the rest of the way to Severus' classroom and office in silence, deciding it would be safer not to talk while students were around. Neither wanted them to spread gossip about the two of them being some sort of 'item' and so walking together but in silence would hopefully not give this view to the students.

As soon as they were inside the classroom, Severus sent the box of Potions ingredients into the cupboard, "So are you willing to duel me then?" Tonks asked, smiling at him. "It'd stop any gossip being spread about us as well if I was here to help you teach a lesson," she added, smiling once more.

"Okay but don't be too harsh on me. My dueling skills are rather rusty," he replied, laughing. "And bear in mind that the students will be second years so they don't need to know too many complex spells," he added, not wanting them to learn anything too important at such an early age in case they became corrupted as Tom Riddle, better known as Voldemort, had done during his first few years at Hogwarts.

Tonks nodded, taking her wand out and concealing it up her sleeve as she was so accustomed to doing, "So only the basics? Flipendo knock back jinx, that sort of thing?" she asked, knowing he would probably win with such simple spells as she was used to using much more powerful ones for protection.

"That's as far as I would go, actually. Flipendo is about as complex as they can understand. And as for protection, protego is as far as they will understand when it comes to protection as well," he added, frowning slightly, "Flitwick is yet to teach them many charms for dueling."

Tonks rolled her eyes a little, "Stupid safety laws," she mumbled, hating the new laws that were currently being enforced by the education department of the Ministry. "So when does the lesson start?" she asked him, sitting herself down on the desk that was beside her.

Severus glanced at his watch and looked slightly horrified, "It starts in about 10 minutes," he answered, grabbing his defense text books and then grabbing her, "We ought to get to the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom before we end up being late!"

They hurried out of the classroom side by side once more, Tonks easily keeping up with Severus' quick strides, and they made it to the classroom a couple of minutes early, in fact, despite the fact that they had left the dungeons much later than they should have done. Severus quickly passed the text books around so that each desk had a book on it. He then closed the shutters on all of the windows, making Tonks frown slightly.

"Do you really need to have the room in complete darkness, Sev?" she asked him, noticing how well he now blended in with the surroundings.

"Yes," he replied simply, laughing a little, "It helps to keep up my reputation as the bad Professor," he added, looking up at the door as he heard it open and then heard the groans from several students when they saw it was him who would be teaching their lesson. "Silence," he demanded, standing up perfectly straight and glaring across all of the students as they took their seats. "I shall be taking the lesson today along with Miss Tonks, an associate of mine. We shall be showing you how to participate in a basic duel. Observe."

With that, he turned to face Tonks, a slight smile in his eyes as he looked at her, and she knew he would go fairly easy on her. She would have to play fair as well of course though because these students were certainly younger than she had expected. Within a couple of minutes, however, she was on the floor and her wand was in Severus' hand; something she had hoped would never happen. She could hardly have beaten him on his birthday, though. That would have been rather harsh.

Severus walked over to Tonks, offering her a hand to get up with and she took it, pulling herself up from the floor, "Your wand, Miss Tonks," he said, the smile in his eyes now much greater than before but still not enough to have been noticed by his students. "As you can all see from that, it is possible to defeat even the most well-trained duel artists. Of course, she could easily have beaten me had she used the spells she was taught during her training but for the purpose of using spells you all would know, she refrained from doing so." He continued to talk to them all in that manner until the end of the lesson finally arrived, at which point there was no more lessons that day and Severus and his students were free for the rest of the evening.

As soon as all of the students had filtered out of the room, Severus moved towards Tonks, "I didn't hurt you earlier when I knocked you backwards, did I?" he asked, looking a little concerned because he had sent her backwards into a table and he had seen her flinch a little, as if in pain.

"I'm fine Sev," she replied, smiling. "I'm used to it. It comes with my job, to be honest," she smiled once more, "You're a very good teacher. They were all listening to every word you said. I thought you said you were hated?" she asked, frowning and getting up from the seat she was in to stand right in front of him. "Not that I can see any reason anyone would want to hate you."

"Are you sure?" he asked, not wanting to think he had hurt her. He then smiled and, for the first time that she had ever known of, he blushed, "I'm not _that_ good," he said, "They listen because otherwise they'll get detention. I suppose that's why I'm hated, really. I make them learn." He looked at her standing right in front of him and smiled a little, "You're odd if you think I'm nice, you know."

Tonks laughed and walked away from him this time, waving her wand at all of the books and collecting them up for him, "I'm sure. And you are good. I used to hate you when you taught me too but that was probably because I was too clumsy and used to spend most of my time in detention for destroying things," she laughed. "It was more than fair, though."

"And it meant I got to spend more time with you as well," he commented, smirking at her. He had liked her ever since the first time he had seen her in her first year at Hogwarts but this was the first time he had ever mentioned it to her.

She grinned, "I thought you hated me for my rather absurd coloring," she replied, walking back over to him and looking up at him. Their eyes locked on one another's and they both smiled, their heads moving closer together gradually until they finally kissed. Of course, Severus was the first to move away from the kiss and they were both blushing quite profusely.

"Sorry," Severus said, unable to look at her anymore, "I should have restrained myself better than that," he added, glancing at her.

"By the sounds of it, Sev, you've been doing that for some time. I'm not sure we could be anything more than friends at the moment, though. I mean what with my job and your alliances…" she trailed off, knowing he understood what she said.

"Of course," he replied, although on the inside he was hurting. "Perhaps things will be easier for us in a few months time once all of this has blown over a little more?" he suggested hopefully.

Tonks smiled and nodded, "Yeah, then it'll be a little easier, I'm sure." She glanced at her watch then and frowned, "I'm going to have to get off now as I still have some paperwork to get done for work," she said, sighing a little. "I hope you have a good remainder of your birthday, Sev. I just wish we could have made it better," she smiled a little sadly at him and he just nodded in reply. They both understood each others' feelings and knew that one day they would be together. Just not right then.


	2. February 14th

It had been just over a month since Severus and Tonks had last seen one another. Both had been busy with their own various things but that day it was Valentine's Day and the Weasleys, as ever, were holding a party. Both Severus and Tonks had been invited, along with Remus and his new girlfriend, and Tonks already had a feeling she would be avoiding Remus at all costs that evening. She didn't know that Severus would be there yet, though. She did secretly hope he would but she had thought he would avoid any sort of party where love was the main subject.

Tonks had decided to go to the party for the soul reason of possibly seeing Severus, although she highly doubted he would be there, and perhaps to see what Remus saw in his new girlfriend that he didn't see in her as well. Mostly to see Severus, though.

She was sitting alone by the alcohol at the dining table of Number 12 when Severus arrived. She didn't notice him at first because she was too intent on simply getting the alcohol out of the bottle and into her glass and then getting the bottle back to the table without breaking anything, what with her being so clumsy. Severus simply watched her, smiling a little to himself. When she accomplished her task, he decided to go and say hello to her.

"Hello, Miss Tonks," he said, smirking a little when she nearly jumped out of her skin at being spoken to by someone when she hadn't expected it, "I hope I'm not that frightening that you need to practically leap out of your chair," he commented, raising an eyebrow a little at her, his smirk still spread widely across his face.

She rolled her eyes at him in return, "If you think I'm scared of you, you must be even more insane than I originally thought you ever could be," she said, laughing as the smirk on his face dulled a little at that comment, "And besides, it's not nice to creep up on people, Sev!" She grinned at him, remembering the last time they had met. "Was the rest of your birthday as good as the part you spent with me?" she asked, attempting to look as sincere as she could but she simply couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.

"Oh no, it was just as boring as it was before you left," he replied, his smirk reappearing across his face again as he indulged in his favourite hobby of annoying people, "I ended up being forced into a meeting by Dumbledore," he shook his head a little, "A very boring meeting at that." He then looked from her to the bottle, then back again, "You didn't kill it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Have you been practicing?"

Tonks laughed again and shook her head, "I was just bored and thought I'd use all my concentration to move the bottle successfully for once," she replied, laughing at the look of shock on his face.

"You can concentrate?" he asked, a look of mock horror evident on his face, "You never did _that_ in any of my lessons!" He pretended to be a little hurt, even though he obviously wasn't really in any form of pain. He just liked making others feel guilty. He doubted it would have much of an effect on her, though, as she had a much harder personality than he had ever realised.

"Yes I did! Just not when I was actually making the Potions... I was more interested in... Erm... Other things," she laughed, picking up another glass and handing it to him, "Get drunk. Everyone else is," she said as he took it rather cautiously, having half expected her to poison it or something. He knew she cared about him for some unknown reason but he was still always extremely cautious when it came to accepting drinks from others.

"Thanks..." he said, smelling the drink with caution, "Trying to seduce me?" he asked, smirking a little once more as he took a sip of the drink and smiled a little for once, "A fairly good quality wine, actually. I wouldn't have thought anyone would have spent money on this sort of thing for such an unimportant day," he commented, looking at the glass and shrugging slightly.

"Seduce you?" Tonks chuckled, "I'm pretty sure it wouldn't count as rape, at least!"It was her turn to smirk this time as Severus tried to hide the slight blush that was appearing in his cheeks. She had believed he had feelings for her for quite some time but she wasn't quite sure how he would take that comment at all. He tended to be one of the men who would fall in love but never tell anyone about it, simply ignoring his feelings until he had crushed them completely. For that reason, she was unsure if she really should have said anything to him in response to his comment but then he had started it, after all.

"If it was in public it would, Nymphadora," he said, smirking again at being able to use her first name. She didn't react though and he frowned, "Decided you like the name now?" he asked as he sat beside her at the table, having felt rather tall standing beside her for all of this time.

"No, I just see no point in correcting you when you'll only use it anyway," she replied, downing the remainder of her glass of firewhisky in one go before replacing it on the table for its own safety. "The wine is good, you say?" she asked, pouring herself a glass of the wine she had given him, "Refill?" she asked, offering him the bottle.

"So how am I supposed to insult you now then?" he asked, frowning once more. "It's no fun if I can't annoy you just a little!" He then looked at the bottle and frowned a little before nodding, "Yes, I might as well have a refill. I'm not sure I can keep up with your drinking habits though," he chuckled a little for once, allowing himself to show some sort of emotion.

"Some friend you are," she said, poking him playfully in the arm, "You're meant to be nice." She then frowned a little, "Although you've never really been nice, I suppose," she added. She then playfully poked him in the arm when he said there was no way he could keep up with her drinking, "I'm no alcoholic if that's what you think."

"Friend?" he asked, laughing a little, "Sure, we're friends..." She knew exactly what he was referring to and she smiled, "Don't grin about it. We're meant to be enemies," he said, rolling his eyes a little and she poked him again. "I never said you were an alcoholic, Tonks. I just don't drink a lot," he confessed.

Tonks smiled and shook her head, "What we're meant to be and what we are must be rather far apart then," she replied, grinning once again, and then frowned slightly when he said he didn't drink much. "You know, most times I've ever spoken to you I believe you've been drinking. It's rather odd that you don't drink a lot," she replied, smiling. "Maybe that just shows how few times we ever see one another?" she shrugged a little, drinking some of the wine. "This stuff is good though," she added.

Severus nodded, "You just like to make me be something I try hard not to be," he replied, frowning a little, then laughing, another first for him in front of several people he knew, "Or perhaps that shows that neither of us get out much." He took a mouthful of his wine but in the time he had managed to have a couple of mouthfuls, Tonks was reaching for the bottle once more. "Are you sure you're not an alcoholic?" he asked as she refilled her glass.

"Positive," she replied, downing that glass as well and refilling it with firewhisky, "I'll drink this a little slower," she added, giving him the bottle of wine, "Keep that away from me," she said. "I can't turn into an alcoholic if you have the alcohol and refuse to give any to me." They both laughed at that comment, neither of them caring much about who was around them anymore.

Only then did the two of them realise that Molly was watching them with a rather amused look on her face, "Am I missing something here?" she asked, looking at the two of them, particularly Snape, laughing. It was an extremely rare sight at the best of times, yet to see him laughing with someone he was supposed to despise was something that Molly quite enjoyed seeing, in fact. And to see Tonks looking happy again was a nice sight for her as well because she was so used to Tonks being upset and grumpy that a smile was rather uplifting.

"No," Tonks replied, receiving a glare from Severus which she responded to with another poke, "He actually does smile sometimes," she laughed, "Particularly when we end up arguing over stupid, pointless or pathetic things." Tonks looked at Severus to see him looking rather annoyed at being seen in a good mood for once, "It's mostly the alcohol talking Molly," she added, "He's not used to drinking."

Molly nodded, "Right... So... What exactly were you arguing about?" she asked, watching the two of them and frowning slightly, "It makes no sense to me." Her smile returned soon enough though because she liked seeing them both happy. Usually, they were both rather reclusive and unwilling to join in any form of celebration, let alone one involving love as Valentine's Day did.

"I don't know actually," she said, looking at Severus. "What were we arguing about?"

"Annoying one another, I believe," he replied, smirking at having beaten her at something.

"Gah, you can't win!" she exclaimed, poking him again and he smiled, poking her back gently, "I could sue you for... Erm... Poking me..." she frowned a little, "Or maybe not..."

Severus laughed, even though Molly was there, and he said, "No, I don't think so. I think it would be better if you sued me for the thing you said you'd do to me earlier," he replied, smiling at her. Of course, he was referring to the topic of rape and seduction which they had discussed briefly earlier on in the evening before he had decided it wasn't a suitable topic to discuss in public.

"No, it wouldn't be possible," she replied, sighing over-dramatically. "Ahh well, we'll just have to put up with annoying one another I guess," she said, laughing and poking him again, "I win with poking you though," she smirked, drinking some of her firewhisky.

"And with being more of an alcoholic," he smirked back, "I'm still on my second glass. That's your fourth since I've been here!"

Molly watched the two of them arguing, smiling and laughing and she couldn't help smiling as well. Her two friends that were usually some of the grumpiest people around, both as a result of lost love, were suddenly in a good mood again. She then began to wonder if there could have been more between them than just friendship as she had never seen Severus like that at all, yet she had a feeling that he wouldn't be likely to show his feelings so openly. Perhaps it was the alcohol talking after all; yet two glasses did seem a little pathetic, even for a non-drinker. Molly was brought out of her thoughts when she realised the two of them were staring at her and she smiled a little, "Sorry, did one of you say something? My mind went elsewhere..."

"Am I an alcoholic or not?" Tonks asked and Molly laughed. Severus seemed a little annoyed that everyone was on Tonks' side when she clearly drank a lot more alcohol than was humanly necessary, yet he supposed it wasn't his problem. It was her body she was contaminating and that was none of his business.

"No, I wouldn't have said so," Molly replied, laughing again at Severus' face, "Although you do drink a fair bit sometimes," she decided to add in order to make Severus feel a little less excluded in his opinions.

"Okay," the two of them replied in unison and Molly shook her head, walking away mumb,ling something about love changing people into slightly more odd people than they previously were.

After the two of them had finished a few more drinks and had a more detailed conversation about how annoying one another could be they realised that most of the people that had previously been in the room enjoying the party had disappeared. "Where is everyone?" Severus asked, finishing his glass of wine in a rather decided manner, as if to leave once his question had been answered.

"I think most have gone to bed," Tonks replied, "Where are you staying tonight?" Tonks asked, knowing he lived nowhere near The Burrow. She guessed that if he had nowhere to stay, he would end up being forced to go home this late and after drinking, she guessed it wouldn't have been a good idea for him to apparate after drinking.

"I suppose I'm staying at home at Spinner's End," he replied, wondering why she had even bothered asking. He then stood up and pulled his coat buttons together, "I should probably be off now," he added and Tonks stood up as well.

"You could stay at mine if you wanted to," Tonks offered, smiling at him warmly. "There's a spare room," she added, remembering their conversation from earlier and they both laughed.

"Are you sure that would be alright?" he asked, "I wouldn't want to be a nuisance at all." He secretly had been hoping he might have been able to go to her flat for some reason one day. He knew he preferred to be alone with her than being in a room full of people who were likely to overhear any conversation they had.

"Of course, it would be fine," she replied, dragging him outside, "As long as you don't try to steal my heart," she added, grabbing his hand and apparating straight to her flat.

Molly had seen them disappearing together and she smiled. She had a feeling that they were almost certainly closer than friends, if not planning to be soon. She decided not to mention it to anyone though because she didn't want to upset either of them. She just hoped Severus would treat Tonks better than Remus had done after all the time they had spent trying to make things work.

Once they arrived in her flat, Tonks hugged Severus gently and Severus laughed, "What are you doing, Tonks?" he asked, hugging her back all the same.

"Hugging you. After all, I don't want to be your whole life – just your favorite part. If you'll let me," she asked, looking up into his eyes and feeling him holding her gently against him.

"Okay," he replied, not arguing at all. He was unsure of whether it was the alcohol talking or whether she genuinely meant it but either way, he liked it.


End file.
